


Taste Testing

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-07-25
Updated: 2003-07-25
Packaged: 2019-05-30 12:03:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15096323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: And you don't see me as 'real thing' material?





	Taste Testing

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Taste Testing**

**by:** Lifeasanamazon

**Character(s):** Josh/CJ/Toby  
**Rating:** CHILD  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine at all.  
**Summary:** And you don’t see me as ‘real thing’ material?  
**Feedback:** Always appreciated.  
**Author's Note:** ‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Oro! Happy birthday to you...’ Josh. Just for you. With a dollop of something else.

Rhonda - this wouldn’t be up here without you. Kate, you’re a honey.

*

Taste Testing

*

Josh sat silently on CJ's couch, not moving.

CJ stared at him, waiting patiently until the tortured expression on his face eased and he was able to articulate his internal struggle.

"Why," he began, "does everyone treat me as an adolescent idiot in a grown man's body?"

"Because you are?" CJ stopped when she saw the hurt in his eyes. She sighed. "No, Josh, you're not. You are an amazingly bright man with a phenomenal talent for politics." She looked right at him, wanting him to hear the sincerity in her voice, "and a phenomenal talent for friendship." She studied his face for any evidence of acceptance of her gift. None.

CJ walked over to the couch and lowered herself down beside Josh. They didn't touch, but she could feel the tension emanating in waves from him, and she frantically searched her 'Josh vocabulary' to find the right words to comfort him. She found nothing, and slumped in defeat.

"CJ?"

"Hmmm?" She opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him.

"Can I kiss you?"

"Is this some kind of sick joke, Josh? Are you drunk, or have you just lost your mind?" CJ's irritation showed plain across her face. "For God's sake don't try and tell me that you have been harboring some secret passion for me, because that's bull and you know it."

"Don't you wonder, CJ? Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to be able to kiss one of your colleagues, one of your friends and know, just know, that this was it? That he or she was the one you were destined to spend the rest of your life with?" Josh looked tired and his age, for once. "I mean - I like - I love the people here. I spend more time with them than anyone else in my life. Why can't I find that person in the West Wing?"

"You really want to kiss me and see if I'm that person?" CJ tried, and failed, to keep the amusement out her voice. " Go on then. Try." She turned her face towards him, expecting him to chicken out, to backtrack, to make a joke and laugh it off.

He leaned forward and kissed her. Lightly at first and then opened his mouth and deepened the kiss as much as she would let him.

They drew apart.

CJ looked at him, her eyes sparkling with humor. "Nice but no cigar?"

Josh smiled ruefully. "Nice, but no cigar."

They settled back against the couch and sat in silence for a while.

"You gonna kiss your way around the West Wing?" CJ prodded his leg. "You know, to test your theory? Because if you do, you shouldn't leave out Will. Or Ed or Larry. I'll accept that Leo is out of bounds for now, but if you don't strike gold with the lower echelons, then you're gonna have to take it higher."

"What are you trying to say, CJ?" Josh grabbed her finger before she could bruise him significantly.

"I'm saying that I knew before you kissed me that it would be nice, but that you weren't 'the one' as you so quaintly phrase it. I'd have felt just as happy kissing Donna, or Ginger or Carol. I'm not fussy, Josh, but I think I know the real thing when I see it."

"And you don't see me as 'real thing' material?" Josh looked hurt again. And more than hurt.

"Not for me, Josh." CJ rubbed her eyes, regretting that she had ever consented to have this conversation.

"Haven't you ever wondered about your colleagues? What it would be like to kiss Sam, make love to Toby?"

"Let's not go there, shall we." A statement, not a question.

"Okay," Josh paused, studying his friend's face carefully. "But I bet you that they've wondered what it would be like to be with you..." He held his hands up at the horrified expression on her face. "I'm not speaking with authority here, CJ!"

"Good - because if I thought you were discussing me in that way over a beer, I would be after you so fast... God, Josh, it's hard enough being a woman in this place, without worrying if your colleagues are wondering what you look like naked."

"Seriously, CJ." Josh turned his head to look at her. "Have you ever met the 'real thing'?"

CJ considered him. She considered the hours he spent working for the common good; she considered the passion with which he defended what he thought of as right; and she considered the goodness of his heart and the depth of his friendship.

And she told him the truth.

"Yes. But, you know, Josh, here's the thing. They have to think of you in the same way for it to work. And that doesn't always happen. That's just not going to happen for me."

Josh tipped his head, "CJ..."

A head round the door cut him off mid sentence.

"Hey, Toby. CJ and I were discussing our love lives. She let me kiss her! An act of true friendship if ever there was one. If you're nice to her, maybe she'll do the same for you." Josh beamed at the face at the door. God, he loved these people, maybe he was a lucky man even to have just this.

CJ flushed and stood. "I'm going home. See you both tomorrow." She grabbed her coat and walked out of her office.

"Night, CJ," Toby straightened to let her brush past. Josh watched as Toby's eyes followed her down the hall.

"Toby, let me ask you something. Do you ever think that you might have met the woman you are destined love here, at work? CJ reckons I should kiss my way round the West Wing..."

*

The echoing heels faded away to nothing.

*  
Testing Time

*

"I'm warning you, Josh, you put those lips anywhere near mine..." Toby scowled at the man sitting on CJ's couch.

"Don't worry, I don't go for men with beards. Especially those with personality disorders." Josh slouched further down on the couch.

Toby walked over and perched on the edge of CJ's desk, shuffling a few of her photos. He looked out of the door at the empty space where she had been not so long ago. "You didn't upset her, did you?"

"God, Toby!" Josh threw his arms up in irritation. "Why does it always have to be me that upsets people? You're not exactly renowned for your interpersonal skills. It could just as easily have been you."

Josh stopped suddenly and put his head in his hands. "Look, we were just having a discussion about love - oh you know, about finding someone who is right for you. CJ let me kiss her so that she could show me that she wasn't the right person for me."

Toby stared hard at the younger man. "Did you like kissing her?" he asked, quietly, his voice almost a murmur.

"Yes, actually, I did. We never pay her that kind of attention, but she is a beautiful woman. Inside too. You know what I mean?" Josh buried the heels of his hands in his eyes. "God, I'm tired."

Toby, his expression unreadable, continued to stare at him.

Josh sighed, adding, "But CJ isn't the one for me. She knew that and I knew that before I kissed her. I just wanted a bit of affection. There's only so long you can go without touching someone or being touched, Toby. It kinda kills your spirit."

Toby didn't move. His voice still quiet, he asked, "Did she like kissing you?"

"Have you been listening to me?" Josh's voice almost squeaked. "She let me kiss her - she didn't let me get too close, but she let me kiss her. She knew what she was doing and she wanted to help me without letting things get out of hand. I bet she hasn't been touched in a while either."

Josh sat up and looked the other man in the eye for the first time. "She did tell me that she knew who was or had been right for her, but that it took 'two to tango' or something like that. I don't know - she said it better."

Toby set about straightening the papers on CJ's desk. "She's right."

Josh waited.

"You know Andi won't marry me again. CJ's right about it taking two."

"Yeah, well, I was talking about finding out if the people I worked with, the people who I liked already, who know me warts and all... well, if one of those was 'the one' for me . ." He looked intently at Toby. "Wouldn't that be ironic? I mean, to find out that they were there all along, to find out that I could have been happy for years. I don't think I could bear that."

Toby smiled. "You're still not kissing me, Josh!"

Josh returned the smile. He got up from the couch and wrapped his arms around the older man, kissing him on the cheek.

"Well, I think you'll find that I just did, Toby. And, like CJ said, 'nice, but no cigar'. I know you're not the one for me." He pulled away to lean next to him on the desk.

"The interesting question is... do you know who is 'the one' for you, Toby? Is it Andi, or is it Andi and the kids? Because kids grow up. And you have to have something left when they are gone."

Josh stood up straight and picked up the file he'd come in with. "I'm outa here. You want to get a beer? Toby?"

No answer. Toby was studying the carpet or his shoelaces or maybe his future.

Josh smiled. "Okay, I'll leave you to it. Have a nice night."

  
*

Again echoing heels faded away to nothing. Emptiness, nothing but.

  
*  
Time Is Up  
*

Toby stands in the doorway to his office and sees her. She is sprawled on his couch, head only just visible over its arm, and knees bent up to accommodate her length. He says nothing but crosses to her and gestures to her to sit up, and as she does just that, starting to swing her legs to the floor, he grabs them and pulls them across his lap.

"What are you doing here, CJ?" he asks in response to her raised eyebrows.

"Hiding." Her reply squeezes from behind a rueful smile.

"From what or from whom?"

"Josh."

"Ah." Toby looks thoughtful. " May I ask why... apart from the usual reasons?"

CJ leans her head back against the arm of the couch and closes her eyes in denial of the dangerous territory she has suddenly found herself edging towards. "Because he keeps hounding me, driving me crazy with his quest for a personal life."

Toby studies her face in repose. She could almost be asleep save for the small muscle twitching near her eyelid. He wishes he could take a camera (or, at a push, a paintbrush) and immortalize her. The thought temporarily immobilizes him.

He finally breaks the silence. "Has he kissed you again?"

The reward to his quiet question is the small lopsided smile that flickers around her mouth and he finds himself smiling too.

"No. Although I believe he was seen chasing Will around his desk, all puckered up and ready for action."

Toby snorts suddenly. No-one else can quite elicit such spontaneous amusement from him. She knows his funny bone and always manages to hit it.

The door opens suddenly, making them both jump.

Josh. 

He sees them on the couch and blinks away his acceptance of their intimacy. Of course he's seen them touch before, an arm on a back, a hand at an elbow, even a brief peck on the cheek at times of celebration. And the occasional dance. But this is new. This touching without moving, without purpose. And they don't move away from each other when they see him.

He wants to join them, feel part of their togetherness, so he walks to the couch while demanding, "Move up."

  
CJ lifts her legs and Toby shifts closer to her, allowing Josh to squeeze onto the end cushion and catch her feet, lowering them to his lap.

Toby can feel the heat of the backs of her thighs on his lap and, finding nowhere obvious or comfortable to put his hands, puts them obviously and comfortably on her knees.

They sit together in the quietness. Not unusual for them in their long years of friendship, but unheard of for Josh.

CJ can see both men in profile and she allows herself the forbidden luxury of studying their faces through her lashes, Josh's hands on her ankles a comfort and Toby's palms on her knees, well... she would like to say a comfort, but the heat and the gentle pressure of his ever-moving fingers contain enough erotic charge to turn her mind completely in a direction she has forbidden herself for years.

CJ feels the air in the room change and wonders if Toby and Josh can feel it too. She wonders if Toby has noticed that her arm lying along the back of the couch has inched minutely towards the back of his head and that her thumb is close enough to his neck to feel the softness of the hair curling there.

She can't believe the madness that has induced her to go this far; further than she has allowed herself in the twenty odd years of knowing him and the twenty odd years of wanting him. The twenty odd years of loving him. She can't believe it. 

She can't comprehend the insanity of that thumb, now stroking the skin under the black curls, as it risks everything in front of Josh; in spite of Toby's children, in spite of Andi and the hundred proposals of marriage.

She doesn't seem able to grasp the madness of the heat of his legs under hers and the warmth that is spreading up through her center.

All she can hear in her head is the ticking of the clock and with it the knowledge that her time is up.

Toby can feel the pulse in the thumb at the back of his head. He can hear, or at least imagines that he can, her heartbeat in her hand and the pulse of the blood around her body, flowing through the heavy limbs resting under his fingers. The current travels through them and charges the air.

He wonders what Josh must be thinking and decides that he doesn't really care; this feels too right and too dangerous and he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to. And he doesn't want to. He doesn't want it to ever stop. It is the right time. 

Briefly, he closes his eyes and imagines his caresses falling on silken skin instead of smooth wool. The sensory picture turns the heat up several notches and his self control takes a further battering under the assault from her hand at his neck.

He hadn't dreamed of this before, but now it will be all he can dream.

Josh breaks the mood.

"I'm just wondering," he pauses, oblivious to the tension in the room, "whether I do need to sort out my personal life after all, I mean people are starting to mock me."

CJ sighs dramatically and increases the pressure of her fingers on Toby's neck. She is surprised at how comfortable she feels at breaking her rules. She decides that she doesn't care if Josh notices or not. The die is cast. "Toby, I told you he's been hounding me. He's like a dog with a bone."

Toby smiles at her verbal gift. He loves the way she does that for him.

Josh tickles her foot in revenge and she shrieks, pulling her legs up and away from him. There is a moment of indecision before she abandons her escape reflex and brings them back down more firmly over Toby and away from Josh.

She is almost in his lap now, her arm wrapped around his neck, fingers at his shirt collar. His arm is around her waist and the other protects her calves from Josh's fingers, his own fingers drawing their particular pattern.

CJ feels safe.

Toby wonders why he never tried this before.

Josh sits up suddenly as the veil lifts from his eyes. "Well look at you two!"

He can't stop the smile that has started to spread from cracking his face in half. To him, Toby looks amazed and CJ, well CJ looks as though her soul has taken off and is hovering above the room someplace. "Kiss her, Toby. Kiss her! You've got to, honestly. Show her how it's really done!"

Toby looks appalled, but his arm tightens around her and he slips his fingers under her blouse to scratch gently at her soft skin. A warning shot is needed.

"Josh ..." Toby's rebuke is silenced by her lips on his. His tongue unable to form the words as hers sucks softly at it. He is enveloped in a white heat and a sense of such rightness that he cannot break away. He has never kissed like this before and never even attempted a paler version in a public place.

They do not break apart, even at the sound of the door softly closing, or the whispered conversation outside. Or even the muted applause and laughter that leaks in through the cracks.

  
*

This is their time now. Enough has been wasted. No more walking away.

*  
Time For Action  
*

"What's up, Toby?"

Josh watched Toby watching CJ walk across the lobby. It crossed Josh's mind  
that Toby had an expression on his face that he'd had never seen there before.

"I'm besotted."

"Oh." Josh began to back away, not sure just how much he wanted to witness of an emotionally-candid Toby. Too late.

"She's got me. Can't think about anything but her and the way she moves, the way she sounds, the way she smells..." Toby surfaced from the depths of his reverie to notice Josh sidling away. "Not so fast, Josh. You set this up - you're as sure as hell going to witness the fruits of your labor."

Toby pulled Josh along with him down to the mess and found a quiet table in a corner.

"Aren't we even gonna have coffee?" Josh's voice took on its distinctive whine as he tried to shake off the hand that had gripped his wrist for the last five minutes. His fingers were going numb.

"No." Toby's fingers tightened. "You are going to see what you have cost me. I can't drink coffee when all I can think about is CJ. I can't eat either. It's only been an hour, but I can feel the weight dropping off me already." He glanced furtively round the room. "And to make matters worse, and this really is your fault, everybody seems to know that she kissed me."

Josh grinned. "You didn't seem to be fending her off when I left the room . . ."

Toby sighed and closed his eyes. "This is your fault, Josh."

"You've got a bit of repetition going there, Toby." He too looked around to see if they were being overheard. " And even if, and I say 'if,' I agree to take the blame here, you should be thanking me, not making my life hell through coffee deprivation. This could almost be classed as holding me against my free will, you know!" He raised an eyebrow. "You and CJ could have stumbled through the rest of your lives without finding each other. I mean, come on, give credit where it's due."

Toby stared across the table and Josh swore he saw the flicker of a smile. But then again ...

"I thought the whole idea of this ridiculous exercise was to sort out your personal life, not someone else's?"

Josh ran his free hand through his hair, the other was still in Toby's vice-like grip. "Well, if you keep holding my hand like this, people will soon be talking about something other than the kiss you and CJ shared earlier." Josh grinned as his words had the desired effect and he was a free man once more.

"Come on, tell me, Toby. Was that kiss all it was cracked up to be? I mean, I know what CJ can do with her mouth," he smirked as the older man narrowed his eyes, "but she didn't give me the high voltage treatment she gave you. You were practically having sex!"

"Josh!" Toby's voice squeaked his disapproval.

Josh stood. "Well if you're not gonna tell me, I'm going to have to get some action of my own. Let it never be said that Josh Lyman is a quitter!" He scanned the mess and his eyes fell on Margaret. He gave her his best dimples.

Margaret gave Josh her best 'suspicious' look and scurried out of the door.

Toby missed seeing Josh trailing after his next victim. Toby had his head on the table. And his mind was already roaming in the direction of a velvet tongue and soft breasts.

*

"Get away from me, Josh." Margaret ran behind her desk and wielded her celery stick like a sword. "I've heard all about you..."

"Oh come on, Margaret. Just one little kiss. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself." Josh used his best pleading expression.

"That's not what I heard happened with Will. Poor man is still lying down in a darkened room."

Josh sighed and perched on the edge of her desk. He nodded towards Leo's door. "Is he in?"

"You're not!..." Margaret looked aghast and Josh had to laugh.

"Well I did promise CJ that I would take my quest higher if the lower echelons wouldn't play fair..."

Margaret slumped down and pursed her lips. "You're not serious are you?"

"Why? Don't you think Leo and I would make a cute couple?"

"Josh \- don't even joke about this!"

"Aw, c'mon, Maggie. I promise to leave Leo out of this if you give me a kiss," Josh bit his lip and looked up at her through his eyelashes.

Margaret froze. Then looked over her shoulder at the closed door. "Well, just one then. But make it quick. And no tongue."

Josh didn't need telling twice. He ran round the desk and pulled her to him, sliding his arms around her waist and tipping his head to meet her lips. The kiss was sweet and chaste and... seen by Leo McGarry as he opened his office door.

*

"Should I cough?" There was just the slightest hint of strain in Leo's voice.

Margaret froze. This was the stuff of her worst nightmares. She had followed Leo from job to job, across the country and back again; been bellowed at on an hourly basis and only slept when he had slept. All with just the occasional sweetness thrown her way as a reward. That and the relentless hope that he would do to her what Josh was STILL doing.

Margaret pushed at the shoulders of the man who had her in a firm grip and twisted her face away from his determined mouth. "Josh, stop!" She finally gasped out.

Josh sweetly finished the kiss and smiled at the distraught woman in front of him.

"Nice, Maggie. Very nice. Whoever lands you will appreciate those gorgeous lips." Josh appeared oblivious to the man standing behind him, and to the mortification of the woman whose hands he was still holding. "Doesn't help me in my quest though." He smiled gently and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Maybe I'll go and torment Will some more," he teased as he walked away.

Leo watched his Deputy saunter from the room. He couldn't believe that Josh hadn't acknowledged his presence at all. How dare he... how dare he... kiss his Margaret. Leo didn't know whether to be mad at Josh or mad for Margaret at Josh's rejection; because that's what it was. Hell, if he'd kissed Margaret, there was no way in a million years he'd have been able to stop. How could Josh not have wanted to just keep on kissing her? Leo stopped in his tracks and shook his head. Margaret was still staring at him, tears in her eyes.

"I need to get out of here." Leo walked straight past her and out of sight.

Margaret collapsed in her chair, head in hands. How could this have gone so horribly wrong? She reached for the phone.

*

"Josh Lyman's office." Donna wedged the receiver between her chin and shoulder as she attempted to juggle the mountain of files in front of her. Josh's romantic mission was leaving her with even more work to do, not to mention the emotional clearing up she was now landed with. "On my way, Margaret."

As she grabbed her bag, Donna saw the culprit of so much devastation approach, whistling jauntily. He soon stopped grinning when he saw her with her coat on.

"Hey, where are you going? You haven't finished yet!"

"Correction, Josh. You haven't finished. That pile of files is for you." Donna lifted her hair over her collar. "However, where you *are* finished, is in the romantic department. I am so sick of cleaning up after you and your search for the Holy Grail."

"What do you mean? What have I done?" He looked genuinely bewildered and Donna felt a brief (very brief) twinge of pity for him.

"Look around you, Josh. Do you notice anything different?"

Josh twirled haphazardly, his eyes scanning the empty Bull Pen. "Nothing. There's nobody here to notice..."

"Exactly. It is five o'clock and there is nobody here. Will hasn't gotten a thing done today and is still gibbering, Bonnie and Ginger have taken personal time, and Ed and Larry are pretending to have a meeting somewhere. They are all in hiding from you and your wandering mouth."

Josh opened the offending mouth and closed it again.

"So," Donna started to walk, "I am going to put Margaret together again, and you can take advantage of the peace and quiet to get some real work done. And if Leo asks, you can tell him that for the first time in years, Margaret is putting herself first."

*

Donna and Margaret sat on a bench looking out over the water, shoulders touching in a gesture of sisterly support.

"How bad can it be?" Donna nudged her friend. "Leo knows what Josh is like. He's known him all his life; if anybody can believe that you had nothing to do with that, Leo can."

Margaret sighed. "Yeah, but it didn't look all that one sided..."

"What do you mean?" Donna's head turned sharply.

"Well, from Leo's point of view, I could have been kissing Josh as much as Josh was kissing me." Margaret's voice trailed off to a whisper, unsure of how Donna would react to that information.

Donna tilted her head and chewed her lip. "Why did you kiss Josh, Margaret?"

"Hell, I don't know. I suppose it just seemed to have been so long since I kissed anybody ... or anybody ever wanted to kiss me." She carefully considered her next move, wanting to reassure Donna that she had no designs on Josh. "And the man I want to kiss has absolutely no interest in me. I was flattered that I was even in the running or on Josh's not-so-illustrious list."

Donna squeezed her friend's hand. "Come on. We need to get you in to see Leo."

"But ..."

"No buts, Margaret. You have to face him tomorrow, and at least this way you will have a chance to explain in private that none of this is your fault."

Ten minutes and a short cab ride later, Leo opened his door to an ashen-faced Margaret. 

"L. . L. . Leo, " she stammered, " I think we need to talk."

"You'd better come in." Leo moved to one side to let Margaret through and saw the back of Donna's head as she turned the corner. He smiled to himself. That woman was a treasure and the epitome of discretion. He really wasn't sure how they would all manage if she weren't there.

When he came into the living room, he saw Margaret standing rigidly by the couch, coat still on and her fingers gripping her purse.

"Take your coat off and sit down. I'm not going to eat you." Leo saw Margaret flinch and realized, perhaps for the first time, how strongly his behavior affected her. He softened his tone and took her hand.

"Margaret. Sit down with me." They sat on the couch together, Leo maintaining his hold on Margaret's hand and Margaret with a fraction more color in her cheeks. "You know that there is very little I wouldn't do for you, don't you? And if kissing Josh is what you want, then..."

"No, Leo!" She jerked round to look at him, horror written over her face. "I don't want to kiss Josh, I haven't kissed anyone for so long..."

Her words were stopped by Leo's lips.

"Well, twice in the same day ain't bad, then," he whispered, before kissing her again.

*

Toby opened his eyes, head still firmly resting on the mess table, to see a pair of gray-clad legs less than an inch from his face. There seemed to be a voice attached to them, but it came from so high up...

"People are staring, Toby. More than they usually stare. Maybe you should unstick your head, straighten up a little and follow me?" CJ patted him kindly on the head and strode off, ignoring the amused glances thrown her way by the other patrons of the mess.

Toby groaned elaborately and with a supreme effort and an audible crack of his neck, dragged himself to standing. He trailed after CJ, using his nose (in its newly CJ-sensitized form) to guide him.

When he reached her office, he saw CJ leaning against her desk grinning at him. He marched straight in, kicking the door shut, and instead of stopping in front of her in his usual fashion, just kept on going until he was pressed up against her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist and his face wedged into her neck.

CJ laughed, "Toby, what is wrong with you?" She brought her hand up to stroke his cheek and tilted his face towards her. Dropping a quick kiss on his mouth, she moved away before he had the chance to deepen it, putting the desk between them.

Toby looked wounded.

"Now I can just see how you would have looked as a child when your Mom took away your toy . ." CJ teased him. "Don't worry. It's not for long. I just have to try and get your head back in the real world, before the men in white coats come for you."

Toby's mouth twitched and before he could stop himself, he was beaming at her.

"Oh, now I'm really worried."

"No, I'm fine, honestly. Although if I could have had you instead of my teddy bear when I was four years old, there would have been no way they could have got you away from me."

"Toby, you could have had me years ago if you had wanted." CJ looked ruefully at him.

The smile faded on Toby's face. "How could I have been so stupid? Don't answer that." He turned away from her and leaned on the edge of the desk, his hands over his eyes. A rustle and a change in air alerted him that she had moved. Warm hands took his and pulled them away from his face, soft breasts and silk pressed against his chest and then slim hips pressed sensuously against his own.

"But we're here at last. Let's make the most of it," CJ whispered into Toby's neck, "Are you ready to leave for the night? Because if I start kissing you now, there is no way I am going to be able to stop."

Toby grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door. "Let's go." He brushed past Josh in his haste, knocking him out of their way. CJ threw Josh an apologetic, yet radiant smile, as she was dragged from her office.

"See you tomorrow!"

Josh stared after them and smiled softly. He walked back to his office and sighed at the pile of files on his desk. He had made no headway at all, and he could see that yet another night - not spent in his bed - was the only option. His reverie was broken by the phone ringing.

"Hey. Where are you? I thought you were with Margaret?... She is? Wow. Good work there oh young assistant... . Yeah, they just left together, just hope they don't get caught making out in the car, you could cut the sexual tension with a knife ..."

Donna smiled into her cell phone. "Well, I'm off home to my lonely bed. I'll see you in the morning." She paused and continued, "Josh...Josh? Maybe you did some good with your craziness today after all. Yeah...bye."

Josh replaced the handset. And stared at the phone. Then, with a sigh, he lowered himself into his chair and opened the file at the top of the heap.

*

CJ opened her eyes and blinked myopically at her strange surroundings. As the night's events replayed themselves in her head, she couldn't stop a grin stretching across her face. She felt the warm body next to her shift slightly and... suddenly she disappeared beneath the covers, yanked down the bed by her ankles.

"Toby!" A squeal of laughter and a groan as muscles that she hadn't used in ages made themselves known.

Toby surfaced above her, the sheet over his head still, grinning like an idiot. He looked into her eyes for a moment and then ducked back down again. CJ's smile faded to a moan; her eyes fluttering closed as she inhaled deeply through her nose. Toby's tongue and hands pushed all rational thought from her mind and she didn't care that, at last glance, the clock had read eight am.

Screw work. Just this once.

"Screw me, Toby." And he slid inside her.

*

Leo opened his eyes and stared at the living room ceiling above him. He hadn't slept on the floor in years and his back was protesting, but the rest of him couldn't have been happier. He was still holding Margaret's hand.

Leo didn't have to turn his head to know she was there, that it hadn't been a dream.  
Margaret was still wearing her coat, but her head was resting on his shoulder and her legs were tucked neatly up beside her.

"Are you awake, Leo?"

"Yes, I am now. In more ways than one." He touched her nose briefly with his index finger. "I'm not an easy man, Margaret."

"And yet, amazingly, I stick with you."

"You do, don't you." Leo smiled. "Thank you. I never said thank you."

"You're welcome."

"What do you want, Margaret?"

Margaret stood and stretched her long cramped body. She looked down at the man before her, a soft smile on her lips. "I want what I've waited years to have, Leo. I want you."

"Then take off your coat and stay awhile," Leo joked, his hand curling around her  
ankle. "You know I do my best work early in the mornings."

*

Donna dumped her bag down by her chair and hung up her coat. The Bull Pen was still deserted. This time, though, with good reason - it was early, even for the usual early starters. She heard a noise from Josh's office and grabbing her coffee, went in search of trouble.

Josh lay with his head pillowed on blue file after blue file. Donna bent and wafted her Starbuck's cup under his nose, waiting for the aroma to penetrate the fog. An eye opened.

"Here, have this. I think you need it more than me. And then I think you need a shower, Josh"

"Coffee, Donna? You brought me coffee?"

"No, Josh, I brought me coffee. Coffee that I am donating to you as a needier cause. Just don't get used to it." Donna sat in the chair opposite and studied the wreck before her.

"You know, I've been thinking..."

"Never an encouraging sign,"

"Will you shut up and let me finish?" Josh glared at her and slurped at his coffee. "I've been thinking... I'm giving up."

Donna lifted her eyebrows.

Josh continued, "God knows I can't fit anything more into my life right now. How many women would put up with me just not coming home because I had work to do?" He tipped the cup to his lips again and took a long draught. "Nah. It'll have to wait. The kissing is over. I'd virtually run out of victims anyway."

Donna nodded and breathed deeply. "I think it's for the best, Josh. I think it's for the best."

*  
Time Is Now  
*

Donna grabbed Josh's arm as he walked into the Bull Pen.

"Hey, let go! I've just had the meeting from hell and I'm gonna be here for the next couple of hours instead of at home drinking beer, I don't need you beating up on me too!" Josh pulled his arm away from her and walked into his office.

Donna followed and shut the door behind her. "Beer, Josh? You know . . "

"You really followed me in here to talk about beer?" Josh turned to face her, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"No, Josh. Actually, no. I came to rescue you from a potentially embarrassing situation, but as you are so used to those now, I am sure you can handle yet another." Donna put her hand on the door handle and...

"WAIT." Josh rushed around his desk to keep the door firmly closed, and stared her in the eye. "Tell me, " he blinked at her glare. "Please?"

"Okay. Though you don't deserve it." She backed off a little. " Rumor has it that Mrs. Bartlet has heard about your suicidal kissing mission and is feeling left out. The last I heard, she had purchased a new tube of Chap-Stick and was prowling the West Wing in an effort to join in the fun."

"You're not serious, right? Is this just another case of 'assistant's revenge'? Are you are punishing me, yet again, for something I didn't do?"

Donna shook her head.

"Jeez." Josh sank back onto the edge of the desk. "What am I gonna do? Where do you think she's heading first?"

Donna raised her eyebrows and opened the door for him.

"You're right! Gotta get out of here!" And he was out of the door, moving as quickly and silently as he could.

*  
Margaret was not at her station. Josh used the millisecond available to his brain to process the information and latched onto Leo's office being empty as the obvious reason. He opened the door and escaped inside.

Josh looked around frantically. If Leo came back, he would need a reason for being there; he couldn't tell the truth, Leo would torture him with it and Josh would find himself in a very awkward meeting with the First Lady before he could even blink. A file. A file. A piece of paper, even? Anything? Anything?

From his couch, Leo, a sleeping Margaret's feet in his lap, watched with amusement as his Deputy ran in ever-decreasing circles around the office.

  
"Can I help you, Josh?"

Josh screamed and clutched his hand to his chest. He immediately took in the sight of Leo caressing Margaret's feet, his hands occasionally slipping higher up her bare legs. Margaret was sleeping peacefully, but the somewhat rumpled nature of her usually immaculate appearance indicated that a little more energetic activity had been taking place not that long before.

Josh was speechless. It was all he could do to shake his head as he ran for the door.

Leo smiled. "Abbey's not caught up with him yet then."

*  
Top speed back towards his own office and Josh suddenly remembered why he had run from there in the first place. He veered sharply off and ran straight past an open- mouthed Carol into CJ's office.

"Josh, wait, they're..." Carol's attempt to stop him failed completely.

Once inside and his back pressed against the closed door, Josh slowly opened his eyes at the sound of moaning. He gradually registered that the blinds of the office were closed and there was a trail of clothing on the floor leading to the couch. He gulped and gingerly raised his eyes.

Toby and CJ. Making out. On CJ's couch. Still dressed, but only just and limbs tangled in such a fashion that Josh could hardly work out which bit belonged to whom.

He summoned what little of his dignity remained, and spoke firmly.

"You might at least have locked the door. I'm just saying."

As the door slammed behind him, CJ's snort of laughter carried out to Carol, who allowed herself a quick grin as Josh sped past.

*  
"Where now? Where now?" Josh's muttering was becoming labored and increasingly desperate. He opened another door.

Will's scream made him shut it just as quickly.

A sudden stop and a eureka moment. Josh scampered out of the Bull Pen and down the stairs. Quickly looking over his shoulder to make sure that he was unobserved, he opened a door and slid inside. The comforting aroma and darkness of the supplies closet surrounded him and he allowed himself to lean heavily against the wall.

Suddenly his eyes registered the brief flash of light as a body slipped in to stand next to him. "What are you doing here, Donna?"he whispered savagely. "God, anybody could have seen you... were you tailed? Did you even check?"

"Oh come on, Josh. No one saw me come in here."

"But how did you know I was here?"

"Because you always hide in here when things are too much. That and the fact that I know everything about you; every breath you take . ."

Josh narrowed his eyes in the darkness, "You're not gonna sing to me are you? 'Cause I think that just might be the final straw."

Donna said nothing.

"Donna? No come back? No witty retort?" Josh paused. "Speak to me, Donna. I hate it when you're unpredictable."

"Am I ugly, Josh? Am I unattractive?" Donna's voice had a vulnerable quality that shook Josh to the core.

"No! What...why...why do you think that?" he stammered.

"You have kissed virtually everybody in the West Wing. Your exploits have become the stuff of legend." Her voice got sadder still. "And you never once tried it with me."

Josh heard Donna's words at the same time as the stiletto-heeled footsteps and Abbey's distinctive tones.

"Donna!" he squeaked ...

"I mean I know I'm your assistant, Josh - and I know I'm not your type - but I really put up with an awful lot from you and . . "

"Donna, shut up!"

"And now you're being mean to me and I think I'm gonna cry. Honestly, Josh . ."

Josh took Donna's head in both his hands and crashed his lips down on hers. He had to shut her up.

It worked.

The door to the closet opened with a dramatic flourish. The First Lady and the Senior Staff stood and watched as Josh continued his attempt at keeping Donna quiet. He didn't even come up for air.

Abbey closed the door gently on them. "Now get out of here all of you. It's 11pm. Go home to your beds."

She knocked firmly on the closed door. "That includes you two. Josh, I've decided not to participate in your little quest. I think you've found your prize. Mission accomplished."

And she walked away with a smile.

The End. Really. Absolutely.


End file.
